Playing With Fire
by A.tmosphere 03
Summary: Kathleen Rivers happens to have a brother who is the leader of the Brumly Boys. She's been raised around the gang life. Although never involved in it, the constant worry of her brother's safety drives is always on her mind.


**~Chapter 1: Someday**_**~  
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_**Someday, somehow,  
Gonna make it all right but not right now.  
I know you're wondering when.**_

_**-Nickelback; Someday**_

Kathleen Grace Rivers sits on the old couch, flipping aimlessly through the newspaper she had just bought that afternoon. Among the articles were tales of homicides and crime rate increasing, pet dogs, cats and parakeets in the classifieds, and obituaries highlighting those who had died yesterday. But nothing was said about a young lad named Christopher Rivers.

You see, Chris was Kathleen's brother, who also was the leader of the infamous Brumly Boys. And, you see, Chris had been gone for nearly two weeks on out-of-town gang business and his sister was getting quiet worried, despite the promise that he'd call if anything went wrong.

_But you can't call when you're dead._

And that was a fact, Kathleen thought to herself. There was nothing you could do if some pissed off drug dealer shoots you dead, and throws you out into a dumpster.

But, down inside, she felt like she knew he was still alive and out there, he just had a delay or something. Whatever it was, is still unknown, but she had faith in her brother and she held onto the hope—as well as the promise—that he would come back just like he always did.

His promises meant a lot to her, since he was really her only family. Kathleen had lived in the small suburb of Brumly her whole life. Their widowed mother was absent from their lives most of the time, and Kathleen had been brought up by herself and her older brother, who she adored.

Even though she was an independent girl, she still was a greaser. She still dressed and acted and looked like one, and once in a while she admitted that she actually liked it, but for the most part she didn't like it, and she had intentions on changing that if she could. But as a girl in her time period, she couldn't do much to affect what was happening to her.

She folds the paper back into its original form, sighs, and lays it on the coffee table. Closing her eyes, she drifts off into sleep, and away from the ticking clocks and worried thoughts.

_I ran through the cool corridors of some deserted place, my heart beating like a drum. Something's coming, and I can feel it. I don't know what it is, but it's something… I see a door up ahead, and open it. The room is small, and full of different sizes of cardboard boxes. Quickly, I hide behind one. _

_Footsteps sound outside the door. They stop, pausing a second, and walk away. I let out a breath of relief, and then the door swings open. I guess I judged that one wrong… _

_He walks towards me, his breathing heavy and labored, and he laughs. He laughs and laughs, but never reaches for me. He knows where I am, yet all he does is laugh. I hear a click, and a snap. I don't dare to peek around the box…_

_And I hear a boom. _

Kathleen jumps up, covered in sweat, and her heart beating out of control. She looks up to see her brother coming through the door, a duffle bag hanging over his right shoulder. She still shakes.

"Miss me?"

"Oh Chris…" She gets off the couch and throws her arms around him. "I missed you."

He breaks the hug, and puts one arm around her waist. Chris swings the bag around, and lands it on the table. Then he lets go of his sister and heads over to the bag, unzips it, and ruffles around in its contents.

Chris hands his sister a stack of cash, "Here, money for a while."

"How long does it have to last?"

"A few weeks, at least. I don't think we'll get another run for awhile."

She mulls this over, "Why were you gone so long?"

He sighs, and makes his way to the couch, his sister in tow.

"I knew you'd ask."

"Well, you better tell then."

"…Leena, you see, things… backfired a bit. We didn't get in any trouble, but things took longer than planned, and nothing quite worked out. Money was good, but we'll probably never run for them again. It was too much trouble."

Leena sighs, "I wish you would stop all of this nonsense, or just tell me. I can't stand you doing things that are risking your safety and I don't even know what they are."

"You might _want _to know, but you don't _need _to know. And what choice do I have? None. I already screwed up my life, and I don't want you screwing up yours. Two more years, and I'm gonna pull something big. You're gonna go to college, and make a life, while I do the same old thing… or, well, never mind."

"And what's that going to be? This, 'thing' you're going to do?"

"You're too young, and I don't want you to be wrapped up in the affairs of the gang."

"Neither do I, but I want to know—"

"No, Leen, you don't. You don't want to know what we do. You know some of it, and that's just our minor problems and issues. And the gang… they're getting more hostile. Times are changing, and, like I said, you'll be eighteen soon, and you'll be out of here. Hopefully you won't have to witness many of the changes."

A tear or two slides down her cheek, "But you'll come with me, right?"

Chris hesitates, "Yeah, yeah I will." Even though he knows it's a lie.

**~PWF~KSC~PWF~**

"Are you hungry?" Kathleen asks later on in the evening.

Chris shakes his head, "Not really. We caught a bite to eat on our way out of town."

"Oh," she says, and looks towards the wall. "Are you in for the night."

He sighs. "Unfortunately not. I'm supposed to meet the boys at ten."

"Why so late?"

"Girl, you do remember I'm a gang, right?"

Leena laughs, and shakes her head, "That _would_ make sense."

The laughter ceased, and they were left there in the silence. Chris stretched out on the couch, his six-foot-four figure dwarfing the couch, and Leena curled up in the chair.

Leena dreamed of her future, what she would do in two years, and what this big plan of her brother's was. Dreams of moving out of this house, this town, and this life circled in her head. These new found hopes Chris had been talking about had inspired her, and she was kind of glad. She liked the thought of change.

On the other side of the room, Chris mulled over some very important decisions. Things went wrong on the run, that's for sure. They ran drugs from a dealer in Tulsa, to a dealer in a few towns over, and when it came pay time, the funds were cut short. Chris was pissed, to say the least, and demanded the money.

The guy apparently was a bit intimidated by the eight hoods who were demanding their money, because he handed it over quite quick-like. Chris and his boys got out of there fast, though. They didn't want to take the risk that he'd come after them. And after getting out of there, he decided not to take the chance of running any more for them, at least not for a while.

So this meeting at ten was to discuss more plans for runs, and maybe an alliance with Shepard's gang, although they didn't seem the type to deal anything harder then marijuana. Shepard was more into gun sales and stuff like that, but it wasn't like they _used_ the drugs they ran. Chris didn't let his boys do that, he was a firm believer that drugs would someday wipe the gangs off the map.

Chris sighed and turned towards his sister, "What are you doing, tomorrow?"

"I don't know. I have to work three to closing, so you'll have to scavenge your own dinner tomorrow. I'll probably gonna do some running too, if you don't need the car."

He nods, "I can do it. Could you drop me off tomorrow morning, then?"

"Sure, what time?"

"Not sure, I'll wake you-" and he was cut off by the ringing of the phone. Leena sighed and got up.

"_Hello? Yes, he's here. Hold on a second."_

"Christopher! It's Chad." Kathleen yells, and goes to sit down again.

She hears Chris talking in a low voice, and then the sound of the phone as it slams back onto the hook.

Chris grabs his leather jacket, and slips on his boots, his sister gets up. "We've got problems. I've gotta go. You'll have the car in the morning, don't worry, but I'll be in late, so don't wait up."

"Okay," She sighs and hugs him. "Be safe, and don't do anything stupid.

He smirks. "Me? Of course not."

**~PWF~KSC~PWF~**

The next morning, Kathleen woke up to find an empty house, and a note pinned to the refrigerator.

_Leena,_

_I'll be back tomorrow, just had to run to the city for an emergency meeting. I left you Chad's car, but I need you to meet me up in Tulsa and switch me cars before you go to work. Don't ask why I didn't ride with Chad, I'll explain later. But, if you can, meet me at that Buck Merrill's place. I'll be there till about four. Thanks!_

_Love, Chris._

Leena sighed; it looked like she would be making a road trip, today

Leena drove up to Buck's, and parked out front. It had been a good half hour to drive all the way up here, and she was surprised she hadn't got lost. She walked up the steps, and knocked on the door. A man, in his twenties, peeped out and opened the door, immediately lounging against the frame.

"What do _you_ want?" He slurred, in a bit of a disgusted tone.

"My brother."

"And who's that? Am I supposed to _magically_ know?"

"Merrill? A voice bellowed. "Who in the _hell_ are you talking to?"

A young kid with dark, curly hair, and dark blue eyes walked up to investigate. He looked at Leena, tilts an eyebrow, and pushes Buck out of the way.

"Can I help _you_ sweetheart?" He flashes a goofy smile at the girl.

"I just need to see my brother, Chris."

The boy stiffens and nods, "Come in." He turns off all charm when he realizes who she is, and leads her towards a back room.

"Rivers!" The boy yells.

"What the hell, Shepard? Do you have to fuckin' yell? I'm standin' right here—Oh, hi Leena."

"Hi Chris. I brought Chad's car…" She said slowly.

"Tuff enough. Come on, I'll take back around to my car."

Once they made it outside, and away from that curly haired kid, Leena turned to Chris.

"Who was that kid?"

Chris looks puzzled, "Which one?"

"The black-haired one."

"Oh," he smiled. "That's Curly Shepard."

Leena nods, and digests that. She had heard about him, many times actually. Never from her brother, because he didn't gossip much, but out on the street, in school, and in the diner, well, you heard some things.

The siblings stop in front of the car.

"You still have that money I gave you," Chris whispers, and bends down to be at the height of her ear.

"Yeah," she says.

He pats her cheek. "Good girl, watch it around this part of town. I don't know this area very well."

"Okay," she whispers, and says goodbye to her brother.

**~PWF~KSC~PWF~**

Steve Randle sat inside at the cash register, toying with a pen, as Soda filled up cars outside. Soon, he would have to finish doing some repairs, but for right now, he was just waiting to ring the next customer up.

"Hey, Stevie-O-Boy! Just the person I wanted to see!" Two-Bit makes his way up to the register.

"Can't say the same, here."

"Aw, what's wrong, dahling? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, this morning?" Two-Bit chuckles and Steve bats a hand over the counter, but his friend moves before he can hit him.

"Shut up."

"You're too talkative today, I swear. So, you hear the big news in-"

But Two-Bit was cut off by the ding of the door opening. A girl, looking to be in her older teens, walked in, greaser, defiantly, by look. She sauntered around for a second and the boys continued talking.

"Yeah, Two-Bit. You don't even have to finish that statement; I know what you're talking about. Soda told me this morning."

"How in the hell did Soda know?"

"Pony ran into Curly last night, apparently."

The girl's face drained, "What happened?" She said slowly, approaching the desk.

Steve scowled, "You're awful nosey."

The girl rolled her eyes, "Come on, what's up with Curly?"

Two-Bit glanced at Steve, and he shrugged. "His brother got drafted. Surprised you haven't heard," he said with a laugh. "It's only all over town."

She gulped, and walked closer to the counter. Two-Bit slid over, and Steve rang her total up for the gas.

Steve ran the thought of asking the girl why she wanted to know about Curly, through his mind, but swallowed the courage of doing so, back. He didn't know this girl, that's for sure. And he didn't particularly care for her curiousness. Although she was cute-

Steve shook his head. He still had hopes of hooking back up with Evie, and this girl looked too young for him. Plus, he just said that he didn't like her… and he just said that he found her annoying. Yet he found a tinge of attraction to this girl, and he wasn't sure why.

He watched her take her change and head back towards the door. A catch was in his throat, and he felt like he should say something… but wasn't sure what that'd be… She had her hand on the handle, a foot in motion to go out…

"Hey," He hollered.

She turned around, hair whipping at her face.

"What's your name?"

She looked puzzled, "Kathleen."

He smiled slightly, "I'm Steve."

This time she smiled, and giggled, "I know." She points at his chest. "You're shirt already told me."

He blushes in embarrassment, and in that moment, he felt like Ponyboy. He felt shy and wordless, like he's never felt towards a girl before. And, if he'd tell you the truth, it scared him. It scared him a lot.

**~PWF~KSC~PWF~**

**So, this is my new creation... and I'm not sure how it's going to turn out, so slap me if I start getting Mary-Sueish with Kathleen. I hope you like, but even if you don't, leave me a review! Flames, comments, critisism... whatever! I'm grateful for anything!**

**By the way, I don't own. Hinton and Nickelback, do. **

**Thanks! **


End file.
